The Difference Between Stubborn and Determined
by Kanabo
Summary: Riley never had anyone stalk him or receive any confessions of love in his entire life, not even once. He didn't know why Hoenn's former Champion was so interested in him, but quite frankly, it seriously creeped him out. He just wanted his hat back, why was that so hard? *For ExperimentalSubject. Contains whatever shipping between Riley and Steven.*
1. just a harmless warning, really

Quite honestly, I think these so called _"shippings"_ are total bullshit.

Ah, but they are widely used, so I might as well.

...although, I have no clue what the shipping between Riley/Gen and Steven Stone/Daigo Tsuwabuki is called.

However gay it might be and however much I dislike all the English names in the Pokemon franchise, I also have a strange hatred of Japanese endearments, and avoid them whenever I am able to.

Except if it's KHR. A very special exception, of course.

I really like the pairing between these two specific trainers.

They make the fangirl inside me squeal until I faint with a hand to my forehead from the catastrophic force.

I mean, Steven's main choice of type is steel, and I'd say that Riley leans to it too, except not as much.

Steven quit the position of _Hoenn Champion_, just to look for some... rocks.

(Rocks. How many people would give up one of the strongest positions to look for a couple of _rocks_? I know _I_ would. Ha. Haha.)

Riley owns(? does he, really? Game Freak never really clarified in the games, besides from him saying "my cave" or something)Iron Island, in which I remember him claiming that it used to be teeming with iron ores.

I found one or two evolutionary stones in that cave. I'm pretty sure if a weeboo like me could trace them down with over a thousand steps and the Dowsing App on my _(verymuchhomo)_Pokétch, then I am **(マジLOVE)**1000% sure that _Steven-goddamn-Stone can do it even better_.

Oh, I'm terribly sorry... This has gone along too far. Let me close this note with just a few more sentences, if you please?

Before all this rambling, I had planned to write a quotation or two from the fanfic authoress **ExperimentalSubject** (I do love your pen name).

The first one was:

_"Assume Steven is still the Champion because I like him there (bah, Wallace, you and your derpy character design, no me gusta). Also, I know this ship makes no sense but I like it and there needs to be more fanart. And stories. Yup. Hinthint."_

I completely agree that Wallace's fantabulous character design is derpy. But that is what made me love him as much as I love Ironshipping _(COUGHRileyandByronCOUGH)_ and Haganeshipping _(BLERGHRoarkandRileyGYAK)_.

(Where do you people come up with these shippings? I can (sorta) understand Ironshipping, but why in the world did you decide to name the Riley/Roark pairing _"Haganeshipping"_? No megusta desu.)

And then:

_"...but dammit I will convert people to this ship if it kills me."_

So, this is my response. I'm just so glad that someone finally did a fanfic regarding the bromance _(notreallyhaha/shot)_between iamsopimpRiley and suicidalrockcollectorSteven.

(I mean, come _on_. I found that guy in Meteor Falls. ...Meteor Falls. **Falls.** _HELLO?_ Oh, Steven, sweet illegal crackmuffin... you make me want to jump off a cliff. And I'm sure you make your dear old father want to do it as well. Add Riley to the list too.)

Also, because I do not want you to die from massive persuasion skills. I am still waiting for that third chapter, honeybun.

But never fear! I am sporadic and I(actuallydonot)understand.

Ah, now I know this has been going along for way too long... I apologize.

Oh, wait, I forgot to tell you guys—

_-proceeds to dodge the rotten fruit like a ninja that I am-_

—I am awful, no, utterly _terrible_ at romantic scenes. But please bear with me, I cannot conjure actions scenes as well. Or describe pokemon.

_**BUT DAMMIT I LOVE RILEY AND STEVEN SO I SHALL PUSH MYSELF IF IT KILLS ME.**_

_/failquotecopying_

Thanks for reading 'til the end,

_—Kanabo._

(Who actually understood that **マジLOVE1000%** reference? Haha.)


	2. Hard as Rock Steven

Here's the real thing.

Be warned, most of this fic with be non-explainable and incomprehensible crack.

Such as OOC alwayshighonrocksSteven and brothelownerRiley.

No, not funny. I'm sorry.

Well, I hope it's readable material,

_—Kanabo._

_(Did anyone else laugh at Steven's match call title in Emerald? "Hard as Rock". How attractive. I wonder if it's true. Ha. Haha.)_

_((...Riley would know. LOLOLOL.))_

* * *

Chapter One

**Hard as Rock Steven**

* * *

It was extremely odd.

Riley had first thought that he was hearing things, but then he realized that with his aura-heightened senses he probably _was_ hearing things.

Real things, at that.

He gave a skeptical glance at Lucario, in which it returned with a dryly amused quirk of its red eyes. The brunet squirmed in his seat on the ground, not quite sure if he should search for the source of the noise.

_'You should.'_

Riley's tightly-sealed mouth turned into a wriggly line. He _really_ felt that he shouldn't though.

_'Just go.'_

When he didn't move after a minute or so, Lucario nudged its master with an urging paw. Riley refused to budge, however, and stayed sitting down determinedly. Something inside him was telling him to leave the intruder be, for whatever strange reason.

Another nudge, albeit quite a bit harder, right between his ribs.

"Ow," came the muffled yelp, and Lucario made an expression similar to smirking as Riley hung his head between his upright knees in defeat and groaned softly in foreshadowing dread.

The Aura Pokemon rolled its sharp eyes as it watched its Trainer get up, growling at how deliberately slow the young man was moving.

Hearing his beloved pokemon voice its annoyance, Riley hastened his pace and went off with only slightly dragging his feet. He gave one last pleading look to his Lucario before he turned the corner, but was met with an expectant and stern look. Drooping his shoulders, he disappeared behind the wall of solid rock.

Lucario could be such a pusher, really. Riley loved it like it was his own brother, but it could be as equally irritating as one sometimes.

More like, _always_, but he held the jackal-like pokemon so close to his heart that he refused to think of it in such a degrading manner.

It was dark inside the cave—dark enough to be considered black to the human sight and render it blind, but years of experience and having super-senses made it possible for Riley to navigate the rocky floor without so much a stumble.

The dim glow of what he identified as the light of a candle-lit lamp (so endearingly economically efficient) brightened a shady path just a a couple ten feet away from where he was.

Although his intuition was warning him not to get anymore near than he already was, his curiosity got the better of him. With a quiet shuddering exhale, he steeled himself and moved towards the light.

Making sure that his footsteps were as light as air and his breathing was as nonexistent as a ninja's, Riley creeped up behind the closest oil drum to the source of light and peered over the round side.

Upon seeing the numerous equipment (he recognized them as digging tools, thank the fossil-nut father and son he was luckily friends with), curiosity turned into light irritation. Was this another stone-poacher(as he liked to call them)? He enjoyed their company as much as he enjoyed Team Galactic's.

Then he saw how careful the stranger was working with the section of rock wall, and his peevish mood fell back to curiosity.

Stone-poachers didn't really care for the environment around them and often used violent methods to get to what they wanted. This one was being undoubtedly cautious and respectful to the abiotic matter. Riley was having second guesses to who this intruder was—maybe a ruin maniac?

Those were abundant ever since the incident from before. He didn't really like them poking their alien electronic devices in his cave, but he got some (shameful, according to Lucario) satisfaction upon hearing their frustrated cries when the machines failed to function properly.

Even though Iron Island was indeed barren of iron ores now, it still had a very strong magnetic field. Anything that performed and depended on a complex system of wires and electricity didn't work well. No, not at all.

Riley's uninvited guest was a man, maybe around Roark's own age, give or take—the early or mid-twenties. He had iron gray hair in thick spikes and wore a plain outfit designed for exploration, but it was too... _unprepared-looking_ for a ruin maniac.

Hobbyist, then. An unusually reckless and daring one. An extremist? It was probable.

The man didn't really have anything that told onlookers that he was searching for anything valuable, like evolutionary stones (or fossils, always in Byron and Roark's case), other than the bizarre array of tiny pickers and brushes that seemed to originate from the bulky steel (or whatever it was made out of) armlets the peculiar person equipped.

Riley hadn't noticed how long he had been observing the unusual intruder until he tried to move for a better look and his legs creaked painfully. He slammed his mouth shut the moment it opened, but the groan was still loud enough for the other man to hear.

The brunet began to sweat a bit as he heard the crunch of footsteps closing in where he was hiding. Panic overtook his actions, and a small portion of his aura leaped out of his control.

His vivid blue eyes glowed faintly, and an ear-shaking _CLANG_ sounded behind the two males.

Both men jumped in surprise, but only the extreme hobbyist (for now until Riley knew what he _really_ was) gasped and rushed to the source of the noise.

Taking advantage of the impulsive distraction that he somehow knew he caused, Riley bolted from behind the oil drum and ran back as fast as he could to Lucario.

His foot hit the corner of a random I-beam and he stumbled, trying not to curse as he attempted to regain his balance. He resumed his sprinting, but the fedora that matched the color of his suit top toppled off its perch on his head and fell onto the craggy ground with a soft _plop_.

Riley immediately started to backtrack, but the sound of quickly approaching feet forced him to abandon his dear hat and continue running as if his life depended on it.

By the time he reached the waiting Aura Pokemon, his heartbeats were erratic and his breaths were as short and fast as rapid fire from a bullet seed attack.

Lucario blinked at its master's nearing form, and blinked again at his unrefined form. It watched with mild interest as the brunet paused for a short while to catch a breather before grabbing hold of it and starting to move again.

Forgetting that Lucario could run as fast as him (and probably faster), Riley carried on with his strangely desperate dash until he reached the entrance of the cave. The sudden appearance of bright sunlight should have forced him to close his eyes and stop, but even as he shut them, his aura sense enabled him to run without his sight.

Ignoring (or simply couldn't hear over how hard his blood was pumping) his pokemon's questions as to why he was so panicked like this, he opened the door to Byron's cabin, ushered Lucario inside, slammed it shut behind him, and sank down to the polished wooden floor.

After he calmed down enough to explain what happened to the aura-sensing jackal, he lamented the loss of his hat. It had been a one-of-a-kind, although he did acknowledge how ridiculous he looked sometimes. With an exaggerated sigh, he returned Lucario to its respective pokeball.

That rock-weirdo must have it now.

Riley sighed loudly again and stood as lazily as a Slakoth, too tired and depressed to make his actions seem like it belonged to a human's. With such bad luck, he was assured that nothing could happen that was worse.

His had only managed to take off his suit coat and drop it into the wardrobe when knocking reached his ears. Detaching the circular necklace around his neck and tossing it onto the blue fabric, he made his way to the door.

When he opened it, the "yes?" caught in his throat as he found himself staring at a terribly familiar shock of steel gray hair and wishing he hadn't thought that nothing worse could happen.

Karma sucked.

The stranger's eyes were a light shade of sky blue, twinkling and just so _pale_. A friendly and slightly sheepish smile curved his lips. Riley just stared with a blank look of incredulity.

"Sorry to bother you, but do you know when the boat going back to Canalave arrives?"

Riley's self-loathing train of thought crashed at the sound of the man's deep voice, and he assembled barely enough of his scattered mind to reply.

"Not until tomorrow morning," he distantly heard himself tell the peculiar man. _But if I call Byron I make it get here in five minutes._

The cabin had a wired phone that was personally connected to the one in the steel-specialist's house, something that his old friend had installed just in case the brunet ever needed anything. Of course, being the person that didn't like troubling others, it was almost never used ever since it was built in.

The twenty-some-year-old man made a disappointed face—or tried to. The grin that was stretching across his face made Riley horribly suspicious of the stranger's intentions.

"Oh, that's too bad," he literally sang, and stepped closer to the shorter male. "Do you mind if I stay a night?"

_Yes, I do. It would be a complete disaster. _"No, I don't. It's perfectly fine."

The brunet gave the other a half-smile half-grimace and stepped to the side, granting the gray-haired hobbyist entrance to Byron's cabin (well, Riley was sure that the robust man wouldn't mind).

Still with a broad smile, the taller man politely took off his boots and strolled right inside, looking around with an unusually rapt fascination.

Sighing quietly, Riley closed the door and locked it, double-checking the bolt to make sure that it was secure. He turned back around, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw how close the gray-haired stranger was. Their faces were mere inches away.

The other male's eyes are bright with curiosity and his gaze was uncomfortably scrutinizing, putting the brunet on the edge. Riley pressed against the door tightly, putting as much possible space between them.

"...um, excuse me, mister—"

"Steven."

He felt naked without his hat.

Riley blinked a couple times rapidly and looked at the awkwardly close man confusedly. "What?"

Steven's smile grew wider. "My name." He leaned a bit closer, seeming to enjoy the other's discomfort. "It's Steven."

The Aura Guardian-in-training grimaced as he felt Steven's body heat. "O-okay, Steven..."

Said man tilted his head in response, the air around him light with some unknown happiness that Riley was unaware of. "Yes?"

Riley winced as the gray-haired (still a)stranger's breath fanned his cheek. This was getting too weird for his liking. In fact, his day had been progressively getting worse ever since he accidentally made his morning tea more diluted than it should have been because of a careless miscalculation.

"Can you please... move back?" He tried a smile to lighten his words. "You're very... close."

Steven blinked once, and his smile dropped in slight disappointment as he complied to the shorter male's request and drew back out of Riley's bubble of privacy.

The brunet, however, shared none of this, and sighed in relief when the awkwardness dissipated away into nothing.

But looking at the expectant expression this "Steven" wore, Riley felt that it would be coming back not too soon.

"Can we share the bed?"

Oh, hello, awkward. Welcome back, that was short.

Riley attempted a smile, just to be polite.

"I'll take the couch."

* * *

**A/N:**

Boring, oh yes, so boring.

I was originally planning to make Steven in Riley's situation earlier on, but then I realized that with all that aura-business, Riley would probably notice him before he came within twenty feet.

Haha.

Let me remind you, I do not like the master-servant relationship that other fanfics portray between Riley and his Lucario.

It... irritates me.

On another note, I have no clue when the next chapter will be up, very sorry.

Sporadic, remember?

I hope it was a good (enough) beginning, **ExperimentalSubject**~!

I'll explain Steven's creepy sudden actions in the later chapters, thank you.

Well, I applaud you if you kept reading 'til the end of this.

Thanks a bunch,

_—Kanabo._

_(Please point out any mistakes in the grammar or any missing punctuation. They annoy me, but alas, I do not have omniscience. Sadly. Thank you.)  
_


End file.
